Josie and the Pussycats (comics) Josie When did Josie come out? 1963 Had she been featured in Archie comics before? I don't know.
Did Josie tell about the formation of the Pussycats?
Did Josie tell about the formation of the Pussycats?
A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends.  Josie's surname has been inconsistent. It was alternately "Jones" or "James" for much of the comic's run. McCoy was her surname for the 2001 movie. Archie Comics later sometimes acknowledged the surnames from the movie as canonical, though not consistently. In a few stories reprinted in the 2000s decade, Archie Comics changed her surname to McCoy. However, the manga version used "Jones", which was her first surname to actually appear in the comics.  During the early years of her comic (1963-1969), Josie dated a guitarist named Albert. During and after the Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan M. Mayberry. Alexander Cabot is regularly attracted to her in the comics. Though she is known to date him, she really loves Alan M.  In the cartoon series, Josie's speaking voice was performed by Janet Waldo (the voice of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) and her singing voice was performed by Cathy Dougher. She was played by Rachael Leigh Cook in the 2001 live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie (singing voice performed by Kay Hanley). She appears in The CW series Riverdale with Ashleigh Murray portraying her as an African American and lead singer of the band.  Josie was ranked 77th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list. CANNOTANSWER
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Josie and the Pussycats (initially published as She's Josie and Josie) is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, one-shot issues have appeared on an irregular basis. A second series, set in the New Riverdale universe, launched in September 2016.

The series was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon by Hanna–Barbera in 1970 and a live-action motion picture by Universal Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2001; each of these productions was accompanied by a Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack album. A completely African-American version of the band also appeared in the drama series Riverdale on The CW, after which the character Josie joined Katy Keene.

Publication history
Cartoonist Dan DeCarlo, who had spent most of the 1950s drawing teen and career-girl humor comics such as Millie the Model for Atlas Comics, that decade's forerunner of Marvel Comics, began freelancing for Archie Comics. In 1960, he and Atlas editor-in-chief Stan Lee co-created the short-lived syndicated comic strip Willie Lumpkin, about a suburban mail carrier, for the Chicago, Illinois-based Publishers Syndicate. Casting about for more comic-strip work, DeCarlo created the characters of Josie and her friends. Josie DeCarlo, the artist's wife and Josie's namesake, explained that "We went on a Caribbean cruise, and I had a [cat] costume for the cruise, and that's the way it started."

DeCarlo first tried to sell the character as a syndicated comic strip called Here's Josie, recalling in 2001:

Josie was introduced in December 1962, when her appearances in Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #23 (Winter 1962-1963) hit the stands. A new solo series, She's Josie, debuted in February 1963. The series featured levelheaded, sweet-natured redhead Josie, her ditzy blonde bombshell friend Melody, and the brainy, cynical, bespectacled brunette Pepper. These early years also featured the characters of Josie's beatnik boyfriend Albert; Pepper's strong but not-too-bright boyfriend Socrates ("Sock" for short); Albert's rival Alexander Cabot III, who chased after both Josie and Melody; and Alex's obnoxious twin sister Alexandra Cabot. None of the mainstream Archie characters appeared with Josie until the ninth issue of her own title. Josie and her friends occasionally appeared in "crossover" issues with the main Archie characters. She's Josie displayed a new Josie-only logo beginning with issue #14 (August, 1965), was officially renamed Josie with issue #17 (December, 1965), and again renamed, to Josie and the Pussycats, with issue #45 (December, 1969). The series finished its run under this title with issue #106 (October, 1982). Josie and her gang also made irregular appearances in Pep Comics and Laugh Comics during the 1960s.

In 1969, Archie Comics made several changes to the Josie comic:
 In Josie #42 (August  1969), Josie met a heavily built blond folk singer named Alan M. who, over time, became Josie's on-again, off-again boyfriend (much to the chagrin of Alexandra, who was also immediately smitten with Alan M. and never missed an opportunity to try and steal him away).
 In Josie #43 (September  1969), Alexandra discovered that her cat Sebastian was actually a reincarnation of an ancestor of the Cabot family, who was executed for consorting with witches. Whenever Alexandra held Sebastian in her arms, she could cast magic spells. Alexandra generally used her powers to compete with Josie for Alan M., but the spells she cast usually backfired in some way. Moreover, her spells ended whenever someone nearby snapped their fingers (which happened often). Alexandra and Sebastian's witchy powers were not used in Hanna-Barbera's TV show, and they were soon discontinued in the comic as well.
 In Josie and the Pussycats #45 (December 1969), the first issue to bear that new title, Josie and Melody decided to start a band called the Pussycats.  Alexandra was asked to be their bassist, but she insisted that the group's name be to "Alexandra's Cool Time Cats"; so, instead, Valerie Smith, a new girl in school, was recruited to play bass. The Pussycats made their leopard print band uniforms (complete with cat-ear headbands and long tails) and performed at their first gig, a school dance, as a seething Alexandra tried unsuccessfully to use her witchcraft for revenge.

The reimagining of the comic resulted in three casualties: Albert, Sock, and Pepper, who were phased out altogether. From 1970 on, most of the stories in the comic book revolved around the Pussycats traveling around the country and the world to perform gigs, with Alan M., Alex, and Alexandra (and sometimes Sebastian) in tow. When the girls were not performing, they dealt with the various trials and tribulations of teenage life, often including Alex's jealousy of Alan M. and Alexandra's jealousy of Josie. The Josie and the Pussycats comic ran until 1982, after which the girls were featured in various Archie Giant Series issues and miniseries and one-shot comics of their own. Reprinted Josie stories (including the occasional pre-Pussycats stories) appear frequently in the various Archie Library digests. Archie & Friends #47-95 (June 2001-November  2005) featured new Josie and the Pussycats stories in the regular house style after the 2001 film renewed interest in the series. They later appeared in a new two-part story, "Battle of the Bands", in Archie & Friends #130-131 (June–July 2009).

Manga makeover
In March 2005, Archie Comics announced that a manga version of the title would be published, with art by Tania del Rio, who was also responsible for the manga makeover of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. The first such "Josie and the Pussycasts" story, "Opening Act" ran in Tales from Riverdale Digest #3 (August  2005) The band had previously appeared in manga form in issue Sabrina, The Teenage Witch #67 (August  2005).

In Archie & Friends #96 (January  2006) the origin of the Pussycats was retconned. The manga version implies that none of the characters previously knew each other. Josie Jones was cut from the school choir, but met Valerie Smith and the two founded the band. They recruited Melody, whose idea it was to wear cat outfits. The band was not doing well at first, but Alex liked the group, though Alexandra could tell he was more interested in Josie. Alex's father let him be the manager as long as he did not use his wealth to help make them stars. In Sabrina the Teenage Witch #72 (February  2006), a stranger named Alan helped carry their equipment. Josie, already attracted to Alan, jealously thought there was an attraction between Alan and Melody. Alex hired him as their stagehand.

The manga focused on the group's attempt to reach fame rather than on their career after they have already achieved it. It featured characters not seen in other comics, including Alan's younger sister Alison and the rival group the Vixens. The manga version was not popular among readers, who preferred the traditional style. Its final appearance was in Archie & Friends #104 (December 2006). A Katy Keene revival replaced it (both featured alongside each other in the latter part of the manga's run), though it, too, did not last.

Afterlife with Archie
In the world of Afterlife with Archie, Josie and the Pussycats are revealed to be vampires. Josephine McCoy is orphaned shortly after her birth in 1906 and winds up in an orphanage run by Alexandra Cabot, who has three other children: Melody, Valerie, and Pepper. Due to their singing talent, "Uncle Buddy" (one of Alexandra's friends) takes the trio on tour, eventually forcing Pepper to marry him. Shortly after this, Josie, Melody and Valerie are turned into vampires. The three then go on to become several short lived groups, with "Josie and the Pussycats" being the latest incarnation. In the 1980s, Pepper finds Josie and tries to blackmail Josie into turning her into a vampire. Josie tries to explain that becoming a vampire locks you into the state you were in when you were turned. Pepper won't listen and Josie is forced to kill her childhood friend. Josie them mesmerizes the interviewer she has been telling this to so the three of them can feed. Later on, on their jet, they detect irregularities at their destination of Riverdale, deciding to land there anyway rather than detour.

Reboot
On June 8, 2016 a reboot of the series was announced in the same style of the Archie, Jughead, and Betty & Veronica reboots as part of the New Riverdale imprint. The series is co-written by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron DeOrdio with the art by Audrey Mok. The reboot features Josie uniting the band to take their big shot at musical stardom, only to contend with the machinations of Alexandra Cabot, the ever-Machiavellian daughter of the Pussycats’ manager. The first issue was released on September 28, 2016.

Characters

Josie McCoy
A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and songwriter and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends.

Josie's surname has been inconsistent. It was alternately "Jones" or "James" for much of the comic's run. McCoy was her surname for the 2001 movie. Archie Comics later sometimes acknowledged the surnames from the movie as canonical, though not consistently. In a few stories reprinted in the 2000s decade, Archie Comics changed her surname to McCoy. However, the manga version used "Jones", which was her first surname to actually appear in the comics.

During the early years of her comic (1963–1969), Josie dated a guitarist named Albert. During and after the Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan M. Mayberry. Alexander Cabot is regularly attracted to her in the comics. Though she is known to date him, she really loves Alan M.

In the cartoon series, Josie's speaking voice was performed by Janet Waldo (the voice of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) and her singing voice was performed by Cathy Dougher. She was played by Rachael Leigh Cook in the 2001 live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie (singing voice performed by Kay Hanley). She appeared in The CW series Riverdale with Ashleigh Murray portraying her as an African American and lead singer of the band. Murray eventually left the show and joined the spinoff Katy Keene. She returns as a special guest star in the musical episode "Chapter Ninety-One: The Return of the Pussycats", which is centered on her and the group.

Josie was ranked 77th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

Melody Valentine
The co-founder and drummer for the Pussycats (she also sang occasional lead vocals for the TV series), Melody is a cute blonde and usually speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her cartoon word balloons. She is an absent-minded, bubbly sort of character often taken to using silly, nonsense language, and provides much of the comic relief of the series.

Melody is almost never given a surname in a comic story. Occasionally, she is called "Melody Jones". At these times, the name "James" is used for Josie to avoid confusion. However, the manga, having settled on the name "Josie Jones", essentially nullifies this. The 2001 movie establishes her surname as Valentine, a name that Archie Comics has accepted.

Many comic stories use Melody's beauty as a plot device. When male characters see her, they uncontrollably fall for her and lose all sense of anything else, frequently leading to chaos; although, she is usually oblivious to this. Despite any trouble that occurs for her or her friends, Melody maintains a cheerful, optimistic attitude.

In the cartoon series, whenever the group is in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation, Melody's ears would wiggle. In the cartoon, she frequently gets brainwashed, but is already very dim-witted. Later, in the Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space series, she adopts a cute little alien named Bleep.

Melody's speaking voice is performed by Jackie Joseph, and her singing voice is performed by Cheryl Ladd (credited as Cherie Moor). She was played by Tara Reid in the live-action film. Bleep's voice was done by Don Messick (also the voice of Scooby-Doo, Astro, Dr. Benton Quest, Boo Boo, and more). Ashanti Bromfield portrayed her in the CW series Riverdale.

Valerie Brown
In addition to being the group's main songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist, dark-haired Valerie also performs back-up vocals (in the comics, cartoons, and the movie) and occasionally sings lead (nearly always in the TV series) for the Pussycats. In the comics and the movie, she is the group's dedicated bassist; in the cartoons, she plays tambourine. In the comic book, she replaced Pepper, a sharp-minded spectacled brunette.

Valerie's surname may be the most definite of the three. Archie Comics have occasionally used the name "Brown" from the movie on their website and in promotional material, but in the comics, she is always called Valerie Smith. But recently, the "Brown" surname has been used again in comics and the Riverdale TV series. The return of the Brown surname happens due to the return of the Pepper Smith character in the New Riverdale and Archie Horror universe.

In the comics, Valerie is more tomboyish than her two bandmates. Besides being good at science and a skilled auto mechanic, she occasionally shows a quick temper as well as being physically stronger than she might appear. She is also less concerned about her appearance or her love life than Josie, Melody or Alexandra, and had rarely been seen in a romantic relationship, though in the cartoons she seems attracted to Alexander.  In 2010, she began an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Archie Andrews, although her band's touring schedule often keeps her out of Riverdale and away from Archie (much to the relief of Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper, Archie's other girlfriends).

In the animated series, she is somewhat similar to Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo and they met in a 1973 episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "The Haunted Showboat". She is the character who saves the day the most often, thanks to her street smarts and her mechanical and scientific genius. In the comics, this is downplayed, although she is still the most intelligent of the group. Valerie is the first African-American female cartoon character on a regular animated television series.

Valerie's speaking voice is performed by Barbara Pariot, and her singing voice is performed by Patrice Holloway, sister of Motown recording artist Brenda Holloway. She was played by Rosario Dawson in the live-action film. Hayley Law portrayed her in the CW series Riverdale.

Alexander Cabot III
Rich, temperamental, and cowardly, Alexander is the Pussycats' shifty and not-too-dependable manager. He often gets the group in hot water because of his crazy promotional schemes.  Alexander wears sunglasses often and likes to flaunt his wealth, typically dressing in flamboyant and expensive clothing.

In the comics, Alexander is reminiscent of Reggie Mantle. He has a crush on Josie and often tries to divert her attention from her boyfriend, Alan M. He is blunt and critical towards Alan M., regarding him as all brawn and no brains. Occasionally, Alexander will take an interest in Melody, particularly when Josie is unavailable.  The interest seems genuine, since, unlike other boys, who fall helplessly in love with Melody at first sight, Alexander tends to remain composed around her.

Alexander's personality is markedly different in the animated series; he is much friendlier, though no more dependable and far more cowardly than his comic strip alter ego.  In this context, he most often serves as a comedic foil for Alexandra's constant scheming.  The animated version of Alexander also exhibits no romantic feelings towards Josie, tends to gravitate towards Melody or Valerie, depending on interpretation, and is very similar to Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo.

The animated depiction of Alexander was voiced by Casey Kasem, who also voiced Shaggy. In a 1973 Josie-guested episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Alexander and Shaggy both appear on-screen together for quite some time.  Alexander was played by Paulo Costanzo in the 2001 live-action motion picture. He appears 
as a supporting regular character on The CW's live-action series Katy Keene, portrayed by Lucien Laviscount.

Alexandra Cabot and Sebastian
Alexandra is technically a supporting character, but often overshadows the rest of the cast in both the comics and the cartoons. She is Alexander's fraternal twin sister in the comics; the 1970 cartoon series does not establish the siblings as twins, nor which sibling is older.

Alexandra has black hair with a white lightning-bolt shaped stripe running through the middle of it, giving her ponytail a slight impression of a skunk's tail. In contrast to the good-natured girls in the Pussycats, Alexandra is cynical, hateful, cantankerous, mean, offensive, rude, envious, scheming and self-centered. She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats, especially Josie, about whom she never has a kind word. Despite having no vocal or musical talent at all, Alexandra desperately wants to be a star; her conditions for joining the Pussycats were that she be made the lead and that the band be renamed Alexandra's Cool Time Cats.

Alexandra has an enormous crush on Alan M., and often tries to steal him away from Josie.  In the comics, although she is not particularly fond of her brother, Alexandra often joins forces with him to separate Alan M. and Josie, which would benefit both siblings, since Alexander is interested in Josie. Alexandra's personality in the cartoon is largely unchanged.

Sebastian is a tuxedo cat, and Alexandra's sidekick. In the comics, Sebastian is the reincarnation of Sebastian Cabot, a witchcraft-practicing ancestor of the Cabot family. Alexandra finds that, by holding Sebastian in her arms, she can cast powerful magic spells (Alexandra and Sebastian's bond is represented in that they both have a matching white stripe in the middle of their hair/fur). This plot device was sporadically employed by various writers at Archie over the years; Alexandra was later shown to be able to cast spells on her own.  In the cartoon, Alexandra and Sebastian do not have magic powers but they still have their white stripes. Sebastian usually follows Alexandra's schemes when it comes to getting in between Josie and Alan, but unlike Alexandra, he has no real grudge or dislike towards Josie and is usually shown to be friendly to her. 

Alexandra's voice in the cartoons is provided by former Mouseketeer Sherry Alberoni, while Don Messick supplies the meows, screams, and Muttley-esque snickers for Sebastian. Alexandra was played by Missi Pyle in the live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie, while Sebastian does not appear in the live-action film.

Alexandra appears as a supporting regular character who dislikes Josie McCoy on The CW's live-action series Katy Keene, portrayed by Camille Hyde. This version of Alexandra is the senior vice president of Cabot Entertainment. Similar to in the comics, she dislikes Josie. In Katy Keene, Alexander and Alexandra are step-siblings (posing as twins in public), a relationship complicated by their having dated in high school before Alexander's father and Alexandra's mother later married. Hyde also reprised her role in the musical episode "Chapter Ninety-One: The Return of the Pussycats" from the fifth season of Riverdale.

Alan M. Mayberry
Alan M. Mayberry (known as "Alan M." in the comics, and as simply "Alan" in the cartoon series) is a tall, blond, muscular folk singer who serves as the Pussycats' roadie. He is also Josie's on-off boyfriend, but Alexandra is constantly trying to win a date with him.

In the comics, he replaced Josie's former boyfriend and Alex's former rival Albert. In his first comic book appearance, the creators tried to give him and Alex their own band, The Jesters, but it did not last beyond one issue, and the comic took a different direction. Though Alex looks down on Alan M. and insults his intelligence, Alan M. has more common sense than Alex does. Despite being one of the six main characters, he appeared less often in the comics in the 1980s onward.

In the cartoon series, he plays the role of the self-appointed group leader, similar to that of Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo (and perhaps not coincidentally does bear some resemblance to him as well). His and Alex's characters were changed in an attempt to recapture Scooby-Doos success.

Alan M.'s animated persona is voiced by Jerry Dexter. He was played by Gabriel Mann in the live-action film. In Riverdale, he appears as a guest character in the musical episode "Chapter Ninety-One: The Return of the Pussycats", portrayed by Chris McNally.

Other recurring characters
 Pepper Smith: Josie's best friend in the original comics, and, until the 1969 renovation, one of the main five characters (along with Josie, Melody, Albert and Alex). She had short-cropped black hair, conservative spectacles, wore clothes that were less formfitting than her friends, and was noted for her sharp wit and cynical nature. She dated Sock, but to his frustration, she preferred to remain emotionally reserved when it came to boys. The original comic focused on three girls (a redhead, a brunette and a blonde) who were frequently seen together, but Pepper was dropped from the comics and replaced by Valerie. This change has no explanation, as Albert and Pepper's roles are similar to their replacements’. Pepper made a small cameo appearance in Part 3 of 2007's “Civil Chore” in Tales from Riverdale (Alan M. was notably absent). Pepper later had a more prominent role in the 2016-17 Josie and the Pussycats comic series by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron DeOrdio. She appears as a lead character in The CW's live-action series Katy Keene, portrayed by Julia Chan.
 Albert: Sometimes seen as a mischievous goofball, but at other times quite sensitive, he was Josie's boyfriend in the original comics and one of the original male leads. He was also Alex's rival. However, while the Pussycats-era Alex was similar to Reggie Mantle, Albert and Alex were more like a male Betty and Veronica: good friends until it came to the girl they competed for. Alexandra tried unsuccessfully to get him to date her. Albert was fond of playing the guitar and singing, and also liked to ride his motor scooter. Often portrayed as member of the 1960s counterculture, he went from being a beatnik to a folk singer to a mod and finally to a hippie (depending on the year of the issue) before he was finally dropped from the comics. Alan M. would fill his old role. Since then, he, Pepper and a few other characters would only appear in stories reprinted in digests.
 Sock: His real name was Socrates, and he was a jock who dated Pepper and was a good friend of Albert's. Like a stereotypical jock, he was not very intelligent, but this was not exaggerated as it is with Moose Mason. Despite lasting up to and including Alan M.'s first story, he, like Alexandra, remained a supporting character. Unlike Albert and Pepper, he was removed from the comics with no actual replacement character.
 Alexander Cabot II: Alex and Alexandra's very rich father. He is slightly heavyset, his hair is turning white, and he is often frustrated with the ideas of his children. He insists that the band his son manages earn their own fame without the help of his millions. He appears as a guest character in The CW's live-action series Katy Keene, portrayed by Peter Francis James.
 Josie's father: He is a slim, middle-aged man who has dark hair with a wisp of gray. His name, depending on the source, is Mr. McCoy, Mr. Jones or Mr. James. He is totally supportive of his daughter's music career. In Riverdale, he is named Myles McCoy and he appears as a guest character, portrayed by Reese Alexander.
 Cricket O'Dell: The familiar Archie character made a few appearances in the original Josie comics. A pert, friendly girl with an amazing talent: she is able to smell money or monetary values. In Katy Keene, she appears as a recurring character and was portrayed by Azriel Crews. 
 Sheldon: A short, fat glutton from a few stories in the late 1960s who occasionally dated Melody. Despite his lack of importance, his final appearance was after the Pussycats' makeover.
 Clyde Didit: Best known as the star of Archie's Mad House, Clyde appeared for a few issues in Josie in the late 1960s.
 Mr. Tuttle: The principal of Midvale High School where Josie and her friends attend. He made a number appearances in the pre-Pussycats comics.
 Archie's Gang: The main characters often crossover with Josie and the Pussycats (and vice versa), sometimes in stories involving the Archies.
 The Vixens: A rival rock trio that Alexandra manages. Although they are glamorous, they have no musical talent (a fact that Alexandra somehow overlooked). Exclusive to the manga version.

In other media
Film
Live-action

Josie and the Pussycats is a 2001 Canadian-American musical comedy film released by Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed and co-written by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, the film is loosely based upon the comic and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The film is about a young all-female band that signs a record contract with a major record label, only to discover that the company does not have the musicians' best interests at heart. The film stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid, and Rosario Dawson as the Pussycats, with Alan Cumming, Parker Posey, and Gabriel Mann in supporting roles. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office bomb, earning about $15 million against a $39 million budget.

Television
Animated

During the 1968-1969 television season, the first Archie-based Saturday morning cartoon, The Archie Show, debuted on CBS. The Archie Show, produced by Filmation Studios, was not only a hit on TV, but spun off a radio hit as well (the Archies' song "Sugar, Sugar" hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1969 and went on to be Billboards number one "Hot 100 Single" of that year). Competing animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions contacted Archie Comics about possibly adapting another of its properties into a similar show. Archie Comics offering to redevelop the Josie series into one about a teenage music band, and allowing Hanna-Barbera to adapt it into a music-based Saturday morning show. The show aired 16 episodes during the 1970-71 television season. In the 1972-73 television season, the show was re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space and aired another 16 episodes. After the show's cancellation, Josie and the Pussycats made a final appearance in a guest shot on the September 22, 1973 episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "The Haunted Showboat".

Live-action

Josie and the Pussycats appear in Riverdale on The CW. They are high school students who are dedicated to perfecting the "Pussycat" brand. Ashleigh Murray portrays Josephine "Josie" McCoy, named for Josephine Baker, whose father is a jazz musician and wishes his daughter played more serious music. Her mother is Riverdale's mayor. Asha Bromfield and Hayley Law portray Melody Valentine and Valerie Brown, respectively. All three of them are African-Americans.

Josie would later emigrate to the spin-off series Katy Keene as an adult, with Murray reprising her role. In this, Josie finds two new Pussycats, Cricket O'dell and Trula Twyst portrayed by Azriel Patricia and Emily Rafala.

References

External links
Archie Comics' Josie and the Pussycats homepage
Josie and the Pussycats at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016.

Josie and the Pussycats
Comics characters introduced in 1963
Characters created by Dan DeCarlo
1963 comics debuts
1982 comics endings
2016 comics debuts
2017 comics endings
Archie Comics titles
Archie Comics characters
Comics about women
American comics adapted into films
Comics adapted into animated series
Female characters in comics
Fictional female musicians
Music-themed comics
Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group rock band created by Dan DeCarlo.

Appearances
They have been featured in a number of different media since the 1960s:
Josie and the Pussycats (comics), also titled She's Josie or Josie, a comic book produced by Archie Comics from 1963 to 1982 and 2016 to present
Josie and the Pussycats (TV series) (1970–1972), a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; modified and retitled Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space (1972–1974)
Josie and the Pussycats (1970s band), bubblegum pop music group that recorded songs for the TV show, and their self-titled 1970 Capitol Records LP
Josie and the Pussycats (film), a live-action motion picture released in 2001

 
Fictional musical groups Josie and the Pussycats (formatted as Josie and the Pussy Cats in the opening titles) is an American animated television series based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo. Produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats aired on CBS during the 1970–71 television season and were rerun during the 1971–72 season.

In 1972, the show was re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, 16 episodes of which aired on CBS during the 1972–73 season and were rerun the following season until January 1974. Reruns of the original series alternated between CBS, ABC, and NBC from 1974 through 1976. This brought its national Saturday morning TV run on three networks to six years.

Josie and the Pussycats featured a teenage all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. The group consisted of level-headed lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Josie, intelligent bassist Valerie, and air-headed blonde drummer Melody. Other characters included their cowardly manager Alexander Cabot III, his conniving sister Alexandra, her cat Sebastian, and muscular roadie Alan.

The show, more similar to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! than the original Josie comic book, is remembered for its music, the girls' leopard print leotards (replete with "long tails and ears for hats", as the theme song states), and for featuring Valerie as the first regularly appearing female black character in a Saturday morning cartoon show. Each episode featured a Josie and the Pussycats song played over a chase scene, which, similarly to The Monkees, featured the group running after and away from a selection of haplessly villainous characters.

Series overview
Josie and the Pussycats debuted on the CBS Saturday morning lineup on September 12, 1970, with the episode "The Nemo's a No-No Affair". The animated version of Josie was an amalgam of plot devices, villain types, settings, moods, and tones from other Hanna-Barbera shows such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and Shazzan.

Like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Josie and the Pussycats was originally broadcast with a laugh track. Later home video and DVD releases omit the laugh track. Cartoon Network and Boomerang, however, have aired the show in its original broadcast format with the laugh track intact.

Plot
Each episode found the Pussycats and crew en route to perform a gig or record a song in some exotic location where, somehow, often due to something Alexandra did, they became mixed up in an adventure. The antagonist was always a diabolical mad scientist, spy, or criminal who wanted to take over the world using some high-tech device. The Pussycats usually found themselves in possession of the plans for an invention, an item of interest to the villains, a secret spy message, etc., and the villains chased them to retrieve it. Eventually, the Pussycats would ruin the villain's plans, resulting in a final chase sequence set to a Pussycats song. With the villain captured, the Pussycats would return to their gig or recording session, and the final gag was always one of Alexandra's failed attempts to interfere with the Pussycats' performance or steal Alan away from Josie.

Characters
 Josephine "Josie" McCoy (voiced by Janet Waldo/sung by Kathleen Dougherty) - The red-headed lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and leader of the band. Josie shares an attraction with Alan, the road manager. During the 1970s, the character was known as Josie James. A different actress, Judy Waithe, was originally cast as the voice of Josie. Waithe was dismissed and replaced by Waldo before the show debuted, as her readings of the Josie and the Pussycats-hosted In the Know interstitials were not to CBS's liking. Though corrected closing titles were later done, some remastered prints of the series credit Waithe instead of Waldo among the voice cast.
 Valerie Brown (voiced by Barbara Pariot/sung by Patrice Holloway) - The band's black bassist and backup singer; most often shown playing tambourines. The voice of reason in the group, Valerie is highly intelligent and a mechanical wizard. During the 1970s, the character was known as Valerie Smith. 
 Melody Valentine (voiced by Jackie Joseph/sung by Cherie Moor) - The band's drummer and backup singer and a stereotypical dumb blonde. What Melody lacks in intellect she makes up for in heart; to wit, her perpetual sweetness and optimism. Her ears wiggle whenever there is danger. During the 1970s, the character was known as Melody Jones.
 Alan M. Mayberry (voiced by Jerry Dexter) - The group's tall, blond and muscular roadie and Josie's love interest.
 Alexander "Alex" Cabot III (voiced by Casey Kasem) - The group's manager, highly identifiable by his brightly-colored mod wardrobe, sunglasses, and idiotic promotion schemes; he is the twin brother of Alexandra. Alex is an admitted coward but, in sharp contrast to his sister Alexandra, is good-hearted. Alex and Valerie have a slight attraction to one another at times. He also seems to be attracted to Melody. Alex physically resembles Shaggy Rogers in Scooby-Doo. In The New Scooby-Doo Movies crossover episode "The Haunted Showboat", Casey Kasem voices both Alex Cabot and Shaggy Rogers.
 Alexandra Cabot (voiced by Sherry Alberoni) - The only girl who is not a Pussycat band member of Josie's trio but still a member of the group, identified by her long black pony-tailed hair with a white streak through the center of it, similar to a skunk or a polecat. (Her bizarre appearance is an unexplained holdover from the comic book, where Alexandra had very limited supernatural powers, and this was the mark of the witch.) Intelligent but also selfish, generally mean-tempered, grouchy and bullying, Alexandra is Alex's twin sister. She appears to have no identifiable role with the band nor any reason for associating with it, other than the fact that she is Alex's sister and ally who tries to be the leader. She is constantly bitter and jealous of the band's success without her, believing that she should be "the real star of the band" and that the band's name should be "Alexandra's Cool-Time Cats", and she constantly plots to steal the spotlight (and Alan's affections) from Josie only to have every scheme fail in humiliating fashion, though she can be a good dancer. Despite her jealousy, she remains very loyal and does care for the group, and will usually fight with them against villains, using her brash personality to intimidate the opposition. Alexandra frequently saves the lives of her teammates, frequently rescuing the clueless Melody from falling into a villainous trap. Alexandra is the only character who "breaks the fourth wall" and addresses the audience in "soliloquy" fashion, often in jealousy over Josie.
 Sebastian Cabot (voiced by Don Messick) - Alexandra's snickering cat, whose black and white fur resembles Alexandra's hair and whose utterances sound the same as another Messick-voiced character, Muttley, but he also serves as the loyal pet sidekick of the group (in one episode he uses his sense of smell to track the rest of the group like a dog). He enjoys being mean and sometimes appears to go to the enemy's side, but usually only to trick the villain so he can have a chance to help the group escape. He sometimes uses his claws to pick locks. Alexandra sometimes recruits Sebastian to pull dirty tricks on Josie, but even these tricks usually backfire. Sebastian occasionally "breaks the fourth wall" and snickers to the audience. In The New Scooby-Doo Movies crossover episode "The Haunted Showboat", Messick voiced both Sebastian and Scooby-Doo at the same time. Sebastian's odd nature is a holdover from the comic book where he was a witch's familiar, possessed by the mind of a powerful warlock ancestor of Alexandra. He has the same name as a 20th-century character actor and a 15th-16th century naval explorer.
 Bleep (voiced by Don Messick) - Bleep appears only in Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. He is Melody's blue fluffy pet alien with pink extremities and makes a "bleep" sound (thus his name) which only Melody can understand. Bleep can also generate invisible sound waves from his mouth and eyes.

Voices

Speaking voices
 Don Messick - Bleep, Sebastian the Cat, Gas Station Attendant, Scorpion's Henchman, Aquar
 Janet Waldo - Josie
 Barbara Pariot - Valerie
 Jackie Joseph - Melody
 Jerry Dexter - Alan, Laser's Henchman
 Casey Kasem - Alexander Cabot III, Delivery Man, Aquar's Henchman
 Sherry Alberoni - Alexandra Cabot

Singing voices

Band members only
 Cathy Dougher - Josie
 Patrice Holloway - Valerie
 Cherie Moor - Melody

Production and development

Origins
During the 1968-69 television season, the first Archie-based Saturday morning cartoon, The Archie Show, was a huge success, not only in the ratings on CBS, but also on the Billboard charts: The Archies' song "Sugar, Sugar" hit the #1 spot on the Billboard charts in September 1969, becoming the number one song of the year. Animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions wanted to duplicate the success their competitors Filmation were having with The Archie Show. After a failed attempt at developing a teenage-music-band show of their own called Mysteries Five (which eventually became Scooby-Doo, Where are You!), they decided to go to the source and contacted Archie Comics about possibly adapting one of their remaining properties into a show similar to The Archie Show. Archie and Hanna-Barbera collaborated to adapt Archie's Josie comic book into a music-based property about a teenage music band, adding new characters (Alan M. and Valerie) while dismissing others.

The music

In preparation for the upcoming cartoon series, Hanna-Barbera began working on putting together a real-life Josie and the Pussycats girl group, who would provide the singing voices of the girls in the cartoons and also record an album of songs to be used both as radio singles and in the TV series.

The Josie and the Pussycats recordings were produced by La La Productions, run by Danny Janssen and Bobby Young (a pseudonym for Bob Engemann of The Lettermen vocal group). They held a talent search to find three girls who would match the three girls in the comic book in both looks and singing ability; early plans, which did not come to fruition, called for a live-action Pussycats segment at the end of each episode. After interviewing over 500 finalists, settled upon casting Kathleen Dougherty (Cathy Dougher) as Josie, Cherie Moor (later known as Cheryl Ladd) as Melody, and Patrice Holloway as Valerie.

Janssen presented the newly formed band to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera to finalize the production deal. Hanna-Barbera wanted Janssen to recast Holloway, because they had decided to portray "Josie and the Pussycats" as an all-white trio and had altered Valerie, who had been conceived as black and was already appearing as such in Archie Comics' revamped Josie and the Pussycats comic book, to make her white. Janssen refused to recast Holloway and threatened to walk away from the project. After a three-week-long stand-off between Janssen and Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera finally relented, allowed Janssen to keep Holloway, and changed Valerie back to being black. The Valerie character was the first black female character on a regular Saturday morning cartoon series. The Hardy Boys drummer Pete Jones had been the first black male to appear on Saturday mornings a year earlier.

Of the songs that were broadcast, Patrice Holloway sang lead on the series' theme song, "You've Come A Long Way, Baby", "Voodoo", "It's All Right With Me", "The Handclapping Song", "Stop, Look And Listen", "Clock On The Wall" and "Every Beat Of My Heart". Holloway was the primary lead vocalist on "Roadrunner" which also features verses sung by Kathleen Dougherty and Cheryl Ladd. Ladd sang lead on "Inside, Outside, Upside-Down", "Dream Maker", "I Wanna Make You Happy", "The Time To Love", "I Love You Too Much", "Lie! Lie! Lie!" and "Dreaming". According to songwriter/vocal arranger Sue Sheridan (known as Sue Steward at the time), Dougherty felt she was stronger on harmony than lead and ceded her spotlight to Ladd. Essentially then, Josie was the group leader but Valerie and Melody provided the trio with its singing voices.

Theme song
The show's theme song, titled "Josie and the Pussycats", was written by Hoyt Curtin, William Hanna (under the pseudonym "Denby Williams") and Joseph Barbera (under the pseudonym "Joseph Roland"). The theme song was based on melodies from an incidental tune that had been played on various Hanna-Barbera cartoons since The Jetsons.

A cover of "Josie and the Pussycats" performed by Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donelly is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records. The theme song was also covered on the soundtrack for the 2001 live-action film based on the comic book series.

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

In September 1972, a sequel spin-off series titled Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space debuted on CBS. This version of the series launched the characters into outer space; the opening credits sequence shows the group taking a promotional photo at the launch site of a new spaceship. (It is unclear whether they were the ship's assigned crew, or simply publicity guests.) A jealous Alexandra, elbowing the cast aside in order to steal the spotlight from Josie yet again, stumbles and causes a domino effect so that they are all jerked inside, accidentally triggering the launch sequence which sends all into deep space. Val knows how to pilot the vessel. Every episode centered on the Pussycats encountering a strange new world where they would encounter and often be captured by various aliens-of-the-week before escaping and attempting to return to Earth. No matter what the scenario, Alexandra remains determined to stop Josie from getting too close to Alan. A typical ending for an episode is that they meet a wise benevolent person who reprograms the ship's course for Earth, only to have a clumsy action by Alexandra (or occasionally Melody or Alex) set the ship on the wrong trajectory once again.

Musical numbers and chaotic chase sequences were set to 10 all original newly recorded songs specifically written as "featured performances" with Music & Lyrics by ASCAP songwriter Richard Moyers, who was signed for the sequel by Roger Karshner, Hanna-Barbera's new "Musical Development Director" and Produced by Hanna-Barbera's in-house Musical Director Hoyt Curtin. All recordings were done by studio professionals known as "The Wrecking Crew" at Whitney Recording Studios, Glendale, CA for this spin-off as with the original. Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space also added the character of Bleep, a pet-sized fluffy alien adopted by Melody, who was the only one who could understand the creature's language (he only says "Bleep" repeatedly) and numerous other alien animals encountered. Bleep and Sebastian fluctuate between being competitors or good friends throughout the series, with Don Messick providing the non-verbal chattering of both pets.

The series' premise in similar to Lost in Space (1965-1968), particularly that series' third season where the formerly marooned ship was allowed to visit a new planet each week a la Star Trek. Alexandra's role parallels that of Dr. Zachary Smith - both are unpleasant characters, often at odds with the rest of the crew, whose blunders caused the initial loss in space. Bleep is similar to Debbie the Bloop, Penny Robinson's pet who was played by a chimpanzee in a costume.

The 16 episodes of Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space were re-run for the 1973–1974 season until January 26, 1974, when CBS cancelled it and ordered no more new Josie episodes from Hanna-Barbera. Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space contained a laugh track as well, but utilized an inferior version created by the studio.

Episodes

Josie and the Pussycats (1970–1971)

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space (1972)

Home media
A VHS videocassette of Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space containing three episodes was issued by Worldvision Home Video in 1983. A second video cassette, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space Volume 2, was released in 1985.

Two VHS volumes of Josie and the Pussycats, each containing four episodes of the original 1970 series, minus the laugh tracks, were released by Warner Home Video (Hanna-Barbera had been sold to Turner Broadcasting in 1991, with Turner merging with Time Warner six years later) on April 10, 2001 to coincide with the release of the live-action film. A Josie in Outer Space episode, "Warrior Women of Amazonia", was featured in a clip/episode collection of Hanna-Barbera on VHS, released in the UK.

A Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series two-DVD box set was released in Region 1 (the United States, Canada, and Japan) on September 18, 2007. All 16 episodes, again minus the laugh tracks, were included, as well as a half-hour documentary on the life and career of Dan DeCarlo. The first episode of the series, "The Nemo's A No No Affair", is featured on the DVD compilation Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1970s Volume 1 released on May 26, 2009.

On October 19, 2010, Warner Archive released Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection of Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.

Both Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space are available on the Boomerang and HBO Max streaming services, with the latter featuring the series in remastered HD copies. Warner Archive released the HD versions of Josie and the Pussycats on Blu-ray on November 3, 2020, and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space on April 13, 2021.

Reception
Josie and the Pussycats was named the 100th best animated series by entertainment website IGN, which referred to Josie as an amusing show for the way in which it combined elements from The Archie Show and Scooby-Doo.

After cancellation
Josie and the Pussycats made a final appearance as animated characters in a guest shot on the September 22, 1973, episode of  The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "The Haunted Showboat". Early production art for Hanna-Barbera's 1977 "all-star" Battle of the Network Stars spoof Laff-A-Lympics featured Alexandra, Sebastian, Alexander, and Melody among other Hanna-Barbera characters as members of the "Scooby Doobies" team, but legal problems prevented their inclusion in the final program.

In 1976, Rand McNally published a children's book based on the Josie and the Pussycats TV show, Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats: The Bag Factory Detour.

The original Josie and the Pussycats series was re-run on NBC Saturday morning for the 1975–1976 season and weekdays in syndication from 1977 to 1982. In the mid-1980s, both series, along with a number of other 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoons, were on board USA Network's Cartoon Express; they would next appear on Cartoon Network in 1992, where all 32 episodes were run in the same time slot. Both programs, as of March 3, 2014, are in the library of Boomerang (Turner Broadcasting's archive cartoon channel).

Spin-offs and spoofs
In 2001, Cartoon Network began airing a Josie and the Pussycats short called "Musical Evolution" that featured the Pussycats performing their theme song through the various eras of popular music, including pop, disco, punk, Kiss-like heavy metal, country, and techno. Different animation styles are used for each era. That same year, the characters were adapted into a live action film. The film starred Rachael Leigh Cook as Josie, Tara Reid as Melody, and Rosario Dawson as Valerie.

The 2004–2007 Comedy Central animated TV series Drawn Together featured a character named Foxxy Love. An African-American mystery-solving musician, she was a direct parody of the Josie and the Pussycats character Valerie Brown.

Several episodes of Speed Buggy, a later Hanna-Barbera show, had similar plots to some Josie and the Pussycats episodes, specifically the two Josie and the Pussycats episodes "A Greenthumb is Not a Goldfinger" ("Island of the Giant Plants" in Speed Buggy) and "X Marks the Spot" ("Out of Sight" in Speed Buggy), and the Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space episode "Warrior Women of Amazonia" ("The Hidden Valley of Amazonia" in Speed Buggy).

The ship from Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, along with other iconic ships, appears as space debris in the Futurama episode "Mobius Dick".

In 2016, Josie and the Pussycats was rebooted as a comic book. This update features a new version of the origin of the band, where struggling musician Josie joins up with her roommate Melody and Valerie, a veterinarian's assistant, to start the Pussycats, despite the jealousy of Josie's former best friend Alexandra.

The 2017 live-action TV series Riverdale featured Josie and the Pussycats as African-American students at Riverdale High School, portrayed by Ashleigh Murray (Josie), Hayley Law (Valerie) and Asha Bromfield (Melody). Murray later co-starred in the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene starting in 2020 as an adult Josie, with Lucien Laviscount as Alexander and Camille Hyde as Alexandra.

Bleep appears in Jellystone!

See also

 Josie and the Pussycats (the Archie comic)
 Josie and the Pussycats (the music group put together in conjunction with the show)
 Josie and the Pussycats (the live action movie)

References

Further reading
 Burke, Timothy and Burke, Kevin (1999). Saturday Morning Fever: Growing Up With Cartoon Culture. New York: St. Martin's Press. .
 Charles, Don (March 2003). "Long Tails and Ears for Hats: The Story of Josie and The Pussy Cats". Cool & Strange Music #28. Text available at http://lpintop.tripod.com/oldiesconnection/id17.html.
 Josie and the Pussycats: Stop Look and Listen: The Capitol Recordings [CD Set]. Burbank: Rhino Handmade. Text available at http://www.geocities.com/antlion7/josie.htm.

External links
 http://www.dandecarlo.com Creator Dan Decarlos Website
 
 
 Archie Comics' Josie and the Pussycats homepage
 Josie and the Pussycats at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016.
 Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDb): Josie and the Pussycats
 Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDb): Josie and the Pussycats In Outer Space

Josie and the Pussycats
1970 American television series debuts
1972 American television series endings
1970s American animated television series
American children's animated comedy television series
American children's animated musical television series
American children's animated space adventure television series
Animated television series about teenagers
Animated musical groups
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television series about fictional musicians
Television series by Hanna-Barbera
Television series created by Joe Ruby
Television series created by Ken Spears
Television shows based on Archie Comics